WH Official Pushes Cap and Trade for Lame Duck Session

Obama Energy Czar Carol Browner appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday with host David Gregory touting a lame duck session of Congress after the November elections as a means to pass elements of the unpopular Obama agenda.

The new Congress would not be sworn in until January.

Gregory asked Browner about the failure of Democrats to pass Obama’s cap and trade national energy tax.

DAVID GREGORY, HOST: Is it failure?

ENERGY SECRETARY CAROL BROWNER: We’re deeply disappointed that we were not able to get clean energy legislation. There’s a tremendous opportunity for our country to lead the global clean energy revolution. But that requires us to put in place the, the right laws, the right signals so that we build the wind turbines here, we build the solar panels, then we can ship them to China. We’re in danger of losing out.

GREGORY: I understand the arguments. The president drew a line in the sand there. Is he conceding defeat on this?

BROWNER: Not yet. The Congress is coming back. We will continue to see if we can get legislation. We passed it in the House. We’ll continue to work in the Senate.

GREGORY: Lame duck session, they could do it potentially there.

BROWNER: Potentially.

House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (R-Ind.) appeared on the same program and said Democrats from “the White House to Capitol Hill” just don’t get it.

“You just heard Carol Browner here on the show say that they’re intending, I think she said, possibly to use the lame duck session to pass a national energy tax,” Pence said. “That is outrageous. What the American people know is necessary to get this economy moving again is to get federal spending under control, and preserve and promote the kind of policies and tax cuts that will create jobs.”

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), chairman of the Republican Study Committee also weighed in over the weekend on Browner’s comments.

“The Administration and its allies on Capitol Hill ought to stop compounding the uncertainty in our economy by threatening to raise taxes on families and small businesses,” Price said.

“This week the House of Representatives should consider a resolution I have authored calling on Congress to commit not to come back for a lame duck session of Congress to pursue further unpopular items from the Democrats’ big government agenda,” Price added. “This will be a vote for Democrats to say whether or not they will respect the wishes of the American people — whether they mean to join Republicans in listening to American families or whether they will continue to govern against the will of those who sent them to Washington.”

Price is using the Privileged Resolution process to put Democrats on record voting “for or against” the intent to hold a lame duck session of Congress after the November elections — when those who’ve lost their seats due to public ire have nothing left to lose.

Democrats still could not pass the Obama agenda through the Senate during a lame duck session without the help of Republicans to break a filibuster.

The text of the Price resolution touts a long and sordid list of Democrat abuses found online here.

The resolution vote is expected Tuesday during a special, pro forma session. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has called the House back from summer recess to vote on a $26 billion bailout for state government unions passed by the Senate on Friday.